Lake County deputies find noose next to Obama campaign sign

October 30, 2008|By Helen Eckinger, Sentinel Staff Writer

Acting on a tip from a passer-by, deputies found a noose hanging from a fence next to an Obama-Biden sign near Clermont.

"It's unbearably heinous; it's like having the KKK right here in Clermont," said Barbara Reed, who lives near the property and whose husband, Dick, saw the noose while running errands and reported it to police.

The property owner couldn't be reached Wednesday.

Sgt. John Herrell of the Lake County Sheriff's Office confirmed that deputies removed the noose, which was made with white rope, from a barbed-wire fence along Johns Lake Road.

The deputies spoke with the residents of the home on the property, who said they hadn't noticed the noose and didn't know who hung it on their fence, but said that they had posted the sign in their yard.

Deputies do not have any suspects. Herrell said that whoever hung the noose technically did not commit a crime, but that if the incidents continue, the perpetrator could be charged with stalking.